May 21, 2013 (Tyler, TX) – Leading ambulance/EMS service provider East Texas Medical Center Regional Healthcare System Emergency Medical Services, operator of five wholly owned Paramedics Plus divisions in major metropolitan areas nationwide, has announced that the Commission of Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS) has individually accredited all five of those divisions.

The new Paramedics Plus operation in Oakland, Alameda County, Calif. completed the accreditation process last week, marking a clean sweep for ETMC EMS.

“It is unusual for such a large provider to be able to accomplish this across their system,” said Ron Schwartz, vice president of ETMC EMS. “I want to commend our administrative staff for the hard work and dedication that these accreditations signify. CAAS’s stringent standards reflect our company’s goals and philosophies.”

In addition to the CAAS accreditations, all ETMC EMS operations dispatch centers are ACE accredited by the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch. Also, the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport System (CAMTS) accredits the Pinellas County, Fla. Paramedics Plus operation, Sunstar, for its critical care transport services.

ETMC EMS is the 911 service provider in the following major metropolitan areas:
• East Texas, including Tyler (where the company is based), Waco and Pasadena
• Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Okla. under the EMSA name
• Pinellas County, Fla., including St. Petersburg and Clearwater, under the Sunstar name
• Fort Wayne, Ind. under the TRAA name
• Alameda County, Calif., including the city of Oakland, under the Paramedics Plus/Patients Plus name

About ETMC EMS (Paramedics Plus)
Paramedics Plus was created in 1998 as part of an ETMC EMS expansion that also included EMSA. In the 2000s, ETMC EMS continued to grow with the addition of Sunstar Paramedics and Three Rivers Ambulance Authority. Collectively the organization was responsible for more than 200,000 patient transports in 2012, with upward trends on the horizon. Paramedics Plus is committed to creating long-term EMS partnerships by delivering efficient, innovative, high quality and cost effective emergency care that's built around the needs of the people and communities we serve. Its home office is located in Tyler, Texas. For more information, visit www.paramedicsplus.com.

About CAAS
CAAS is an independent commission that established a comprehensive series of standards for the ambulance service industry. CAAS accreditation signifies that an EMS service has met the "gold standard" determined by the ambulance industry to be essential in a modern emergency medical services provider. These standards often exceed those established by state or local regulation. The CAAS standards are designed to increase operational efficiency and clinical quality, while decreasing risk and liability to the organization. For more information, visit www.caas.org.